


Intertwined

by Erulisse17



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, Star Wars: Jedi: Fallen Order (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magical Realism, Cal Kestis is the Best Dad, Connections across Time and Space, F/M, Force Dyad (Star Wars), ForceBond, Gen, I just LOVE FOUND FAMILIES OKAY, Modern AU, Modern Forcebond AU, Rey just needs some people who love her, The crew of the Mantis tries to raise a kid Modern AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-31
Updated: 2020-08-31
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:06:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22046074
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Erulisse17/pseuds/Erulisse17
Summary: Rey first heard him the day she lost her parents. His voice, telling her she wasn't alone.Even after she was adopted, whenever she needed him, she could find him.Until they close off their bond.Until her imaginary friend proves to be not-so-imaginary.Or, Rey and Ben deal with a lifelong Forcebond as they grow up, with Cal Kestis and the crew of the Mantis raising Rey with all the love she deserves
Relationships: Cal Kestis & Rey, Cal Kestis/Merrin, Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey & Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 30
Kudos: 137





	1. Prologue

She first heard him the day she lost her parents.

After the crash - the hospital, the police, the social workers - everything was a blur. But when they showed her to her room at the group home, she finally got up the courage to ask, “Are they coming back?”

The pity in their eyes told her the answer.

She screamed, she shrieked, she sobbed, until it was night, until they all left. Until she was alone.

“Who are you?”

She stopped, then looked around at the empty room.

“Why are you crying?”

Turning her head, she couldn’t see anyone else, but the voice was so close, it was almost-

For a second she thought she saw him - a faint outline of a boy with dark hair, a few years older than she was, eyes wide with concern, but when she peered into the darkness, there was nothing.

“Are you hurt?”

She pulled her knees up to her chin, the terror and grief about to swallow her again. 

“I’m alone.”

“No you’re not,” the voice argued matter-of-factly, and she could almost see his brows furrow together. “I’m here. My name is Ben. What’s yours?”

Swallowing, she sniffed a little. “Rey.”

“It’s okay, Rey. You’re not alone,” he told her, as if to erase everything that had happened.

As she looked up, tried to see him again, she suddenly felt a wave of… loneliness. Sadness that wasn’t hers. Desperation to be loved. Fear of abandonment. Resignation that this was how it always would be.

“Neither are you,” she murmured, and if she closed her eyes, she could almost feel his hand cover her own, his voice humming her to sleep.

_ Not alone, _ their voices whispered to each other, promising.

_ Never alone. _


	2. Safe

She was clutching Dozzie and trying not to cry when it happened.

“Crazy Rey! Talking to the walls because she’s got no friends, because she’s got no family, because she’s cra-zy!” Simon mocked, his gang jeering behind him.

“Go away!” She shouted, fists clenching. “Stop it!”

“You know where they’ll send you next, right? The loony bin!”

“Yeah, no one wants a kid that’s mental! Could be catching!”

She screwed her eyes shut. “Stop it stop it stop it!”

“Rey?”

Her eyes opened at the worry in his voice, as if he was standing right next to her, as if the tension in her body was leeching into his. “Rey, what’s going-”

“You’re so weird, your parents died just to get away from you!”

A sudden ringing filled her ears, then a long silence, and the next thing she knew, Simon was sent flying backwards, nose bleeding profusely. His minions gaped between her and their leader, stunned into silence.

She hadn’t moved, but there was a dull pain across her knuckles and heavy breathing to her right. Glancing to where he should be, unsure of what just happened, Rey could almost see him staring at his hand, then back to her.

“Ben?” She breathed, before Unkar Plutt’s voice snapped across the yard, scattering Rey and her tormentors in a flurry of fear, and disrupting whatever unexplainable occurance they had just witnessed.

…

She tried not to let the voices haunt her.

The murmurs of the foster parents after they brought her home, the whispers to the case agents when they brought her back, the gossip between the social workers, words like ‘odd’ and ‘disturbed’, and ‘unsettling’.

But bit by bit, that feeling she got from Ben that first day, that sense of resignation, of hopelessness, began to creep in. That she was cursed. Doomed to remain alone forever.

“Rey!” Unkar shouted, snapping his bulbous fingers. “Get over here!”

As she hurried over, he ushered her down the hall. “Now don’t screw this up for me. Got someone finally interested in looking atcha. You keep whatever troublemaking you’ve got to yourself, y’hear?”

She nodded before being summarily shoved into a room. Sighing, Rey perched on one of the chairs, waiting for the next pair of potential parents to be disappointed in her.

But the door opened to reveal no one like Rey had ever seen in the group home before. He was a lanky redhead, late twenties, with a scar across his neck and the bridge of his nose, bright green eyes, and an easy smile on his face.

“Here you go, Mr. Kestis, sir. Would you be needing anything?” Plutt wheeled in his best ‘kind father figure’ voice. By the look he gave the obese man, Rey thought that maybe Mr. Kestis was one of the few people who weren’t fooled by it. 

“No. Thanks,” he replied, then stared until Plutt left the room, pausing to send Rey a parting glare.

Rey stared at her feet, trying her best to look normal and not troublesome.

She watched out of the corner of her eye as the redhead knelt down to her level, waiting until Rey got up the courage to glance at him.

“Hey there. I’m Cal. What’s your name?”

“Rey,” she answered softly, her eyes back on her shoes.

“Rey,” he repeated with a gentle smile. “That’s an excellent name. Mind if I sit?”

She shrugged and he took a moment to settle himself in the seat next to her. “You know, I heard some people say that you talk to things.”

Stiffening, Rey tried to stuff her fear away. “Things don’t talk. Only people do,” she intoned dully, as Unkar had instructed her to do.

Cal leaned back in his chair. “I dunno. I find things tell the truth a lot more than people do sometimes.”

That startled Rey enough to look up at him. “What?”

“People tend to lie, especially about important stuff. I’m sure you get a close look at that every day. Things… well, they just are. They don’t pretend, or bend the truth, they can only reflect what’s actually happened.” He gestured to the threadbare toy in her hands. “Like your doll. Can I see it?”

When Rey hesitated, he held up his hands. “Only if you’re okay with it.”

And the fact that he hadn’t promised he’d give it back, or asked her why she didn’t trust him, or made it about him, intrigued Rey enough to offer Dozzie over.

She watched as Cal took a deep breath, then gently held an outstretched hand above the doll, closing his eyes for a moment. When he opened them, he gave her a kind, knowing smile.

“Dozzie, huh?”

Rey’s mouth dropped.

“Sorry, Captain Dosmit,” he corrected himself with a small salute. Handing her back, Cal gave the doll a fond pat. “She’s been a good friend to you.”

“How did you know that?” She gasped.

“Like I said, people can lie. Things can’t.”

“You can talk to her?”

“She talked. I just listened.”

As Rey beheld Dozzie with new wonder, Cal leaned forward. “How would you like to come home with me?”

Her head snapping up, Rey searched his face, hope desperately rising, before whispering her greatest fear, “People say I’m mad.”

“Eh, plenty of people say the same thing about me. What do you think?” 

Cal watched her fidget for a minute before speaking in a firm, quiet tone, “Rey, if you do come home with me, I promise that I will believe you. Even about things that sound crazy or impossible. And I’m sure you’ve heard promises like that before, but I’d really like a chance to prove that I mean it. Can you give me that?”

After a long beat, Rey allowed herself to nod fervently, earning herself a bright grin.

“Great. I’ve got a friend at home who’d love to meet you. His name is BD-1 and he’s the best dog ever.”

“I’ve always wanted a dog!”

“I’m sure he’s always wanted a Rey!” Standing, Cal stuck out his arm. “What do you think? Hand-holding too much?”

Rey glanced from his glove, up to his face, then slipped her small hand into his own.

As she followed Cal outside, as she stepped into his home, as BD-1 covered her in kisses, she hoped Ben could hear the joy in her voice. 

_ Ben! I found a home! _

She might have imagined the answering happiness she felt in return…

But then again, maybe she didn’t.


	3. Friends

She awoke the next morning to a delicious, enchanting smell.

Creaking open her door, she followed her nose to the kitchen, where BD-1 was offering floor cleaning services to pieces of bacon as they fell.

“Morning!” Cal greeted her with a wide smile. “Pancakes are almost ready if you want to grab a plate.”

Rey had to take a moment to swallow back tears. _It wasn’t a dream._

“Now, I usually just grab a bagel or toast or something for breakfast, but my cinnamon pancakes are a special Saturday morning kinda thing. I like to call them ‘Summoning Pancakes’.”

Rey frowned. “Why would you-”

A flat voice suddenly interrupted her. “Is there bacon?” 

After jumping nearly a foot in the air, Rey stared at the woman who had somehow materialized in the kitchen. She looked to be about Cal’s age, with side-swept silver hair pulled back into a bun and piercing grey eyes. A bronze necklace made of overlapping triangles set off her flowing red blouse as she regarded Rey with an unreadable expression.

“Still cooking,” Cal answered, clearly unfazed by the woman’s appearance. He gestured to the visitor. “Rey, this is Merrin. Merrin, Rey.” 

They both regarded each other with something akin to suspicion.

“Merrin, remember what we said about sneaking up on people?”

Those grey eyes seemed to be taking in every inch of Rey, who already felt very out of place. “No.”

“We said that it tends to startle people. Especially those who aren’t surrounded by friends all the time,” Cal reminded her pointedly.

Letting out a short breath, Merrin gave a sharp nod to Rey. “I am sorry. I did not mean to scare you. My walking quietly is a habit, but I see that it can be… what word do you use? A power play?”

Cal chuckled as he set out the syrup. “Something like that. Breakfast is ready!”

“I have brought an orange juice, as is requested,” Merrin announced, setting the bottle on the table as Cal and Rey joined her.

“Merrin lives a few doors down,” Cal explained as he piled Rey’s plate with food. “She’s got the spare key, so she can help you out with anything you need.”

“How do you know Cal?” Rey asked quietly, both curious and intimidated by the silver-haired woman’s demeanor.

The redhead gave a half-shrug. “She saved my life.”

Rey turned to her with wide eyes. “Really?”

“Yes. Without my aid he would have died.” Merrin agreed with a matter-of-fact tone, which didn’t actually answer Rey’s question, but she wasn’t sure if she should press further.

BD-1, in all his Jack Russel Terrier charm, leaned on Merrin’s leg with an inquisitive whine.

“I still do not understand what you are saying,” Merrin informed the dog, who sighed and nosed Rey’s knee until she slipped him some bacon.

Cal offered BD a piece of pancake, then poured her some orange juice. “So Rey, I was thinking later we could go shopping. Grab you a couple of things for your room, maybe some new clothes-”

Her gut immediately clenched. “No, no, it’s alright. I don’t need anything.”

“Oh, nothing big, just some stuff to make it feel homey.”

“No, really, I promise, I’m okay. I’ve got everything I need. Please.”

As Cal watched her thoughtfully, Merrin frowned. “I have read the requirements of fostering. There is a certain standard Cal is expected to maintain, which include having certain items befitting-”

“Merrin, it’s okay,” he interrupted with a soft smile. “A nice quiet day in actually sounds great.” Turning to Rey, he asked, “How do you feel about Robin Hood?”

As the movie began, Rey could hear Cal and Merrin whispering in the kitchen before a door closed firmly. Offering her an orange as he came around and sat on the couch, Rey took the fruit and waited until Cal hit play.

“Does Merrin not like movies?”

Cal lifted one shoulder as he peeled the orange. “Some, but she likes her space even more. She’ll turn up again when she wants to.”

“Oh,” Rey said, silently adding Merrin’s dislike as a strike against herself. 

_A few more of those and you’ll be right back in the group home,_ her internal voice sneered.

A muffled voice came from her left. “Hey, do you think I need to brush my teeth?” Rey turned to see Cal smiling with the bright orange peel in his mouth, startling a laugh out of her.

After watching the cheesy, yet enjoyable black and white movie, and eating a hearty lunch, Rey returned to her bare room while Cal read a book in the living room. She was still wondering how much she should unpack when a shadow fell across her door.

“Hello.” Merrin nodded as Rey yelped in surprise. “I tried to walk louder, but I see it will take more effort.”

Once her heart rate slowed down, Rey noticed the woman was holding a large box in her hands.

“These are things I do not need,” she announced, setting it down on the floor.

Rey stared. “Oh. Okay.”

“You may have them.”

Blinking, Rey glanced from Merrin, to the box, then back up. “Um...”

“This way you will have things without asking Cal for them.” She tilted her head, “That is what worries you, yes?”

After a beat, Rey examined the lamp and blankets poking out of the box. “Thank you,” she murmured.

Merrin made as if to leave, then hesitated. “You are not a trouble, Rey,” she offered quietly. “You need not worry.”

A tight smile that was almost a grimace strained Rey’s face. “People have said that before,” she whispered to the floor. 

Silence stretched between then, and Rey finally peeked up to see Merrin’s face as hard as stone. “I am sorry,” she said stiffly. “If they said that, they should have meant it. But I assure you, Cal does. As do I.”

And without another word, she spun around and left.

Rey was poking through the box when Cal stuck his head in. “Was that Merrin I saw sneaking out of here?”

“She brought me some things,” Rey held up a blanket with red and black zigzags as evidence, then noticed the pile of new clothes, all her size, sitting on the bottom. Pants, shirts, sweatshirts, even a few dresses.

Holding up a cream shirt, Rey spoke almost to herself, “I didn’t know she was… nice.”

“Don’t tell her that. She might never recover from the shock,” Cal teased as he plugged in the red lamp, eliciting a small laugh from Rey. Once all the clothes were folded in the dresser, Cal tapped her shoulder. “She doesn’t like a lot of people. You must be something special.”

As he left, a strange, overwhelming tightness grew in her chest, and she had to swipe at the sudden wetness in her eyes.

That night, as she slept in her bed, the scent of Cal’s spare sheets and Merrin’s blanket combining to create something that smelled almost like home, she reached out and quietly called, “Ben?”

“I’m here.” If she closed her eyes, she could imagine him sitting at a desk, pen in hand, his hair tucked behind large ears. “You seem… less afraid.”

Rey yawned. “I think I am. They’re really nice here.”

“I’m glad.”

“I hope they let me stay,” she mumbled into her pillow, just before sensing a distant flash of anger.

“If they don’t, they don’t deserve you,” Ben growled, his knuckles white as his pen trembled.

Shrugging, Rey yawned again and pulled the blanket up higher. “Even if they don’t, I still have you. Right?”

The anger faded, slowly replaced by something warm that she couldn’t name. “Right,” Ben agreed, and she almost felt his hand reach over to cover her own. “Go to sleep, Rey.”

As she drifted off, she thought she heard something spoken with unshakeable finality.

_“Always.”_


	4. Learning

In the week that followed, Rey found herself falling into a natural rhythm. She and Cal would walk BD-1 in the morning, sometimes with conversation, sometimes in silence, enjoying the summer sunshine. They would swing by the library and grab a mountain of books, then Cal would work in his office while Rey read or watched TV. The days started to pass with a growing ease, and every night as she fell asleep, after reaching for Ben’s familiar voice, little by little her fear began to fade.

Until Saturday.

Cal had just called out the five-minute warning for pancakes when Rey heard the front door open. Eager to see Merrin actually use a door instead of appearing out of thin air, Rey peeked around the hallway, then blinked as an older woman with grey streaking her short, tight curls stormed in.

“Cal, tell me it isn’t true.”

He looked up with a grin. “Morning Cere! Coffee?”

“Tell me you didn’t adopt a child over the weekend!”

Rey froze, crouching down to the floor as fear spiked through her veins.

A plump, balding man with white sideburns snuck in behind the dark-skinned woman. “Hey kid,” he greeted somewhat sheepishly.

“Cal, I’m serious. Tell me you didn’t.”

“Can’t do that. Heya, Greez. You got that pork belly you promised?”

The man cracked a smile and nodded, “Oh yeah. This is gonna be really-” He stopped as Cere glared. “I’m just gonna… pop this in the oven.”

“You can’t just adopt a child on a whim!” Cere argued as Cal continued flipping pancakes.

“Who says it was a whim? I preheated it to 400, Greez, but feel free to adjust it.”

The older woman narrowed her eyes. “You have absolutely no parenting experience.”

“Pretty sure that’s true of all parents at some point,” he shrugged. “Besides I think I’ve done a decent job with BeeDee so far.”

She crossed her arms. “A dog is not the same thing as a child and you know it.”

A soft voice whispered in Rey’s ear. “What are you doing?”

Nearly jumping out of her skin, Rey turned to see Merrin sitting cross-legged on the floor next to her.

“Nothing,” she mumbled.

Merrin peered around the corner to regard the kitchen pensively. “Ah. Cere is here.”

Rey studied the faux woodgrain of the laminate. “She doesn’t want me here.”

“Hm. And has Cal agreed?”

“He hasn’t disagreed.”

“This is Cal’s way. He deflects until he needs to do battle. Especially with Cere.”

Picking at her clothes, Rey muttered softly. “She doesn’t like me.”

Shrugging nonchalantly, Merrin simply replied, “They did not like me either when first we met.”

“Why?”

“They were afraid I was a witch.”

She stared at the woman in surprise. “Why?”

Tilting her head, Merrin met her gaze and answered calmly, “Because I am.”

Rey blinked. “Oh.”

“What the-” a gruff voice came from above them, and Rey turned to see the balding man - Greez, Cal had called him - staring with hands on hips. “Are you guys eavesdropping? You know how rude that is?”

“Rude, perhaps,” Merrin conceded casually, while Rey shrank back. “But quite informative.”

Sighing in a manner that suggested he was used to Merrin’s directness, Greez called out to the kitchen, “Found something of yours, kid. Two somethings.”

“Morning Merrin, Rey,” Cal grinned, for all the world as if this was a completely normal conversation.

Cere stared as they came around the corner, then glared at Cal. “You could have told me she was here!” She hissed.

Cal shrugged. “You could have guessed. Since she, y’know, lives here. Rey, meet Cere. Cere, Rey.”

The older woman attempted a soft smile and extended her hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Rey.”

_I doubt that,_ Rey muttered internally, but shook the woman’s hand briefly anyway. She couldn’t afford to give Cal another reason to get rid of her.

“Pancakes are just coming off the griddle if you want to sit down,” Cal said, his eyes observing everything carefully under his casual demeanor.

“I’m not hungry,” Rey mumbled, then quickly retreated to her room, leaving the adults to glance at each other.

Burying herself under her blankets, she clutched Dozzie and tried not to cry. 

“Rey?” Ben’s soft voice echoed through her room. “Are you alright? What happened?”

“Nothing,” she whispered, wondering what she’d be allowed to take with her when they kicked her out.

“Hey.”

She could almost see him, large ears and long arms he hadn't quite grown into yet, in that now familiar, yet still strange, half-real haze.

“You don't have to lie to me,” he told her gently, his form inching closer to her as her tears began to start flowing freely.

“I don’t want to leave,” she sobbed softly, and she felt a feather-light touch on her hand and a wave of empathy.

“I know. But I promise, I’ll never leave you. No matter what,” he vowed, his young voice resolute, and she clutched at the ghostly presence on her hand, her fingers brushing against skin for a moment before clutching empty air.

A quiet knock interrupted her response as Cal poked his head around the door, BD-1 pushing it the rest of the way open with his nose. 

“I brought some food,” he offered quietly.

“I’m not hungry,” she murmured from under her blankets.

Sliding the plate onto her nightstand, he remarked casually, “Cere and Greez are gone.”

Rey poked her head out cautiously to see if he was upset, but his green eyes held only quiet kindness.

She sat up slowly and reached for a slice of bacon, studying the pattern of the rug on her floor and waiting for Cal to tell her she needed to start packing.

“I used to be in the system, you know.”

That made her head snap up in surprise. “What?”

He gently sat next to her on the bed, interlacing his hands together. “My dad died when I was thirteen. Bounced around a couple places, landed with a pretty great guy named Prauf for a while.” His mouth twisted slightly as his hand clenched. “He, uh… he died trying to protect me. Same as my dad.”

As Rey stared at him, BD-1 nosed his head under Cal’s hand until the man scratched his head with a sad smile.

“After that, I just… ran. Lived off of scraps, slept where I could.” He gave her a soft sidelong glance. “I was alone for a long time. No home, no family… no purpose. It’s no way to live. Not for anyone.”

BD whined and licked Cal’s hand, eliciting a small chuckle. “Or any dog. Then Cere and Greez found me. They helped me when I thought I had no one. It wasn’t easy for them, but they stuck with me.”

In the quiet moments after he finished, Rey took a tasteless bite of a pancake, then whispered, “They don’t want me here.”

“Not for the reasons you think.”

She had expected a soothing lie, or loud protestations that she was imagining things. Not an acknowledgement of the truth.

“Cere has a daughter, Trilla. Their relationship is… complicated. She knows being a parent is hard, and she’s worried it might be hard on me, too. Especially because I’ve never done it before.”

Scooching a little closer to her, he bumped her shoulder with his own. “But I don’t mind, if you don’t mind.”

After peeking up at him out of the corner of her eye, Rey shook her head emphatically.

Cal grinned. “Good. I figure we’ll both learn from each other, probably screw up a bit along the way, and try our best. Sound good?”

Her small smile growing, Rey nodded, then took a larger bite out of her pancake. “Is there more?”

“For you? Always.”

With a joyful yip from BD-1, Cal and Rey headed back into the kitchen to finish off the rest of breakfast, the Jack Russell hopping up and down to beg for leftovers. As Cal poured her more orange juice, the knot in Rey’s chest gave way to the warmth of their familiar routine and the echo of Cal’s reassurances in the back of her mind.


End file.
